Explore UCD

Tabhair cuairt ar UCD

Explore UCD

Explore UCD details a walking tour through the history, the culture and latest developments on UCD’s Belfield campus…

Explore our Campus

Explore UCD details a walking tour through the history, the culture and latest developments on the UCD Belfield campus. This tour is designed to encourage our 200,000 plus alumni, conference visitors, visiting research collaborators and the local community to explore our parkland campus with its state-of-the-art buildings, public art and woodland walks. The tour was originally developed as part of UCD’s support for the Gathering Ireland.

Explore UCD is a self-guided walking tour of approximately 2.5km, taking 75 to 90 minutes. Feel free to do it all or just in parts. The tour takes in Belfield House, where the glazed porch contains one of the finest examples of Irish neoclassical sculpture, Hibernia with the Bust of Lord Cloncurry, Woodview lakes and biodiversity habitat which forms part of the UCD Woodland Walks and the new €50 million UCD Sport and Fitness complex which includes the country's third Olympic-sized swimming pool as well as a tournament-grade debating chamber, cinema, theatre and state-of-the-art gym.

The guide also outlines 5 woodland walks you may choose from ranging in length from 20 to 60 minutes.

Find out more on this site, download our Explore UCD Map & Guide (pdf) which gives you an overview of the campus or our more detailed guides listed below and you are all set to explore the campus!

NEW UCD 3 Lakes Walk – launched in November 2013 this walk links the hustle and bustle of student life to the tranquillity of the woodland boundary. Explore UCD’s 3 lakes including the new Upper Lake and ‘Secret’ lakes . To download a map click here.

Origins of the Belfield Campus

Belfield Campus has its origins in the 12th century, when much of today's campus was associated with Roebuck, or 'Rabo' lands as they were once called. The lands have been passed down over the centuries and distributed across a number of smaller estates, for example Belfield and Merville, which contribute to today's campus parkland setting and mature landscaping.

UCD is fortunate to have seven remaining period houses on campus. These add a sense of history, place and heritage amidst the modern campus buildings. In the late 1990s, UCD established a "Programme for the Preservation of Period Houses", which has, to-date, seen the complete restoration of Belfield House, Merville House and University Lodge, partial restoration of Ardmore House, in addition to Newman House in St Stephen's Green and Ligouri House on the Blackrock campus.

Over 8km of woodland paths have been created and a series of walks developed to open up our beautiful 133 hectare campus to a wider community. Each walk has its own unique characteristics. Along the meandering paths walkers will pass many mature trees which compliment areas of new woodland planted as part of the University's programme to maintain and enhance the ecological diversity of the campus.

The UCD Sculpture Trail comprises public works of art, donated or commissioned, that form an integral part of the urban fabric of the university, enriching the sense of place and the physical beauty of the natural environment. Varying in style and material, the collection is representative of national and internationally renowned artists.